Past Friends

Part 21: Fairy Lights

Wherever Loki took you it was outside, you found yourself surrounded by tall old trees but it was so dark you had a hard time seeing anything else. He had you in his arms wrapped up in your blanket looking like a burrito, as he started walking through what was clearly a forest. The walk was actually quite peaceful, a light breeze carrying the sound of swaying trees, and the smell of rain. You could hear an owl or two in the distance, and even saw the occasional cluster of fireflies drifting in and out behind nearby bushes. You looked up at the sky in awe as a million stars sparkled through the canopy. Wherever you were it had to be far away from any city, for the night sky had never looked so bright or beautiful.

Loki stopped, "we're here", he said putting you down, "and where is here exactly?" you asked considering it was so dark it all pretty much looked the same to you. He takes you by the hand leading you towards what appeared to be the bottom of a cliff, completely covered in what looked like evergreen vines. Loki reached out to place his hand against the vines but instead went straight through them, lifting them to reveal a secret opening. "After you," Loki said pulling the vines far enough to the side to make an opening for you to walk through. You thank him as you ducked slightly and enter the cave. Well, what you thought was a cave but within a dozen or so steps it opened up into a beautiful field hidden away and landlocked by high cliffs. Loki uses his magic to fill the nearby trees with lanterns and fairy lights. As you looked around you could see a waterfall in the distance cascading down one of the cliff sides. It flowed down into an actual babbling brook and disappeared beneath another section of cliff. Your eyes then locked onto the remains of an old stone tower, worn away from the passage of time.

It was beautiful, most of the tower was still intact but a large opening down at the base led into a small overgrown courtyard. Despite being at least 200 years old the stones that made up the courtyard's floor was still in pretty good shape, all things considered. For the most part, only the outer stones were cracked and worn away, a bit of greenery peeking out through them but you thought it added to its charm. In all honesty, it really only needed was a rinse from a power washer to be presentable for any and all fancy events that could be held there.

Loki had let you wander ahead through the opening in the tower and into the courtyard by yourself, it was also lit up by lanterns and fairy lights. Trees, and flowers of every kind filled it from wall to wall, it felt like walking into Ms.Burnett's Secret Garden. It was all so overwhelming, never in your life have you been in such a beautiful place. You ended up dropping your blanket just inside the tower as you took it all in, you were in complete shock and amazement. You quickly make your way through the garden going deeper and deeper in, it was actually a lot bigger than you initially thought it was.

You begin to hear music in the distance and realized you completely forgot you were with someone. You call out to Loki, shouting out an apology as you walk back to him, the music getting slightly louder with every step. You hear him call back to you "no need to apologize, darling, you were clearly very exc..." he stopped talking as you came into view. He hadn't seen what you were wearing until now and it took his breath away. The way the light breeze flowed through your hair and dress, the way the lights danced off of you, appearing to him as if you were an ethereal angel as you made your way closer.

You see Loki staring at you shocked for some reason and at first, you aren't sure why, until you remembered what you were wearing. You shoot down to look at your dress, like you needed to double-check for some reason what you were wearing, then crossing your arms you cover your chest and turn around embarrassed. "I was feeling really sad and wearing this makes me feel better, well usually... it wasn't really helping earlier" you hastily admitted to give Loki some kind of explanation worried he'd think something weird. "He's not saying anything, why isn't he saying anything?" you think as you start to panic, why were you so worried about this? Was it because no one besides your Grandmother has seen you wear a fancy dress before or was it because someone specifically Loki was seeing you in the dress you pretend to be a princess in.

A thousand thoughts go through Loki's head, everything he wanted to say to you, all the things he wanted to do with you, and possibly do to you, but he held back knowing that he couldn't. What he decided to say was "I found this place a long time ago while on a previous visit to Midgard, I like coming here to think sometimes. So I thought a change of scenery might make you feel better". You snap out of your panic, looking up for a moment and then back to Loki with grateful eyes. "It's the most beautiful place I've ever been to Loki thank you, I do feel a bit better now," you say while giving Loki a hug. Loki hesitates for a second before placing his hands on your upper back right below your shoulder blades, completing the hug. Your embrace goes on for about a minute when out of the blue "I heard from Spiderboy that you can't dance, is this true?" Loki asked with a teasing note on his tongue. You look up at him as you begin to sputter for a moment then you shake your head 'yes'. Mischievous grin forms on his face as he spoke "oh darling, I don't believe that for a second". You pull away from Loki and look back down feeling a little more ashamed than embarrassed. You take a few steps back and turn around as you tell Loki the truth; that although you know how to dance technically you've never done it with anyone. How you felt embarrassed about not having danced with anyone before and also feeling pathetic for having worries like that. You felt it was better to have lied to them than risk the chance of getting made fun of or making a fool of yourself.

Loki reaches out grabbing your hand and spinning you around and into his arms as he asks you to dance.